Tuolumne Utilities District directors will consider an agreement Tuesday that could provide an emergency supply of water for hundreds of Del Oro Water Co. customers in the Strawberry area.

The TUD board could approve the sale of up to 30 acre-feet of water from the South Fork of the Stanislaus River near Pinecrest Reservoir. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which owns the water in question, would sell the water to TUD and then the district would bill Del Oro for the water it uses.

The Del Oro Water Co. is seeking an emergency supply of water for its 381 Strawberry customers through the rest of the year.

Del Oro water users in Strawberry typically get water from Herring Creek, but that is expected to run dry this month due to drought conditions.

The Chico-based company, which purchased the Strawberry system in 2006, has previously received emergency water from TUD and PG&E in 2007, 2008 and 2012.

The water would come out of PG&E's supplemental water supply in Pinecrest Reservoir and not TUD's, according to meeting documents. The district's typical allotment from PG&E is 8,000 acre-feet, which supplies 44,000 county residents after Labor Day.

According to the contract, TUD would charge Del Oro about $15,000, or about $500 per acre-foot. The contract notes that the amount is equal to one-tenth of what it would cost Del Oro to secure a permanent supply of 50 acre-feet each year.

For the full story, see the July 7, 2014, edition of The Union Democrat.